Poor quarterback play has grounded FAU

Schnellenberger asking rest of team to pick up the slack for struggling quarterbacks

October 18, 2011|By Ted Hutton, Sun Sentinel

BOCA RATON — When asked about the root of FAU's offensive struggles, coach Howard Schnellenberger was quick to answer.

"The quarterbacks," he said.

In FAU's pro-style offense, the quarterback's importance is magnified, and so far Graham Wilbert and David Kooi have not been able to move the ball.

The Owls (0-6, 0-3 Sun Belt) are averaging 211.8 yards and 11.8 points per game, both last in the conference, and have been shut out twice.

Wilbert started the first five games, and Kooi started against Western Kentucky due to an elbow injury to Wilbert, who is expected to start Saturday.

Schnellenberger said he was going to deliver this message to his players: "We as a team have to rise to the occasion and take up some of the slack because our quarterbacks are inexperienced."

Wilbert and Kooi are redshirt juniors, but neither had started a game before this season.

-- Quoteable: "We are going to regroup this week and we are going to come out and beat Middle Tennessee. Quote me on that one," said fullback Xavier Stinson.

-- Middle Tennessee said Buster Faulkner will call plays for the Blue Raiders following the sudden resignation of Willie Simmons, who was arrested on a charge of domestic assault last week. MTSU has the top-ranked offense in the Sun Belt, averaging 468.6 yards per game.

-- FAU defensive back Keith Reaser said the feedback he is getting from students about the new stadium is positive. "Everyone said they had fun. It felt like a real college game," Reaser said.